After the balloon was launched: US evaluates debris from Iran’s religious leader pardons tens of thousands of prisoners

After the US military shoots down a suspected spy balloon from China, the debris is recovered. The Federal Police of the FBI is involved in the evaluation, US media reported in unison on Sunday (local time).

According to the Pentagon, the debris was about seven miles off the coast of South Carolina in relatively shallow water. US fighter jets shot down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday after the flying object flew over the United States for several days. The US accused China of spying on the balloon. Beijing protested the “overreaction” and rejected the allegations.

The US hopes that the evaluation will provide information on the balloon’s technical capabilities. US President Joe Biden says he has ordered the balloon to be launched “as soon as possible”. However, a risk to the people on the ground had to be ruled out, so it was decided to only recover the flying object from the air above the sea.

Several American Republicans sharply criticized Biden’s actions. North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis tweeted, “Now that this embarrassing episode is over, we need answers from the Biden administration about the decision-making process. Communist China was allowed to freely violate American sovereignty for days. We must be better prepared for future provocations and attacks by China.” The Senate will be briefed in a secret session on February 15.

The incident also caused a sensation in Germany. “The federal government takes Chinese espionage and current reports very seriously and is coordinating with its key partners,” security circles said at the request of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. SPD party leader Rolf Mützenich said in the ARD program “Report from Berlin”: “That is a great concern to us – including me personally, because I think we have to be careful that another major international conflict does not arise here.”

The SPD foreign policy expert Michael Roth assessed the balloon and the heated debate over it in the US as a “prelude to the escalating conflict between China and the US in the coming years”. The launch of the balloon was correct, said the chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Bundestag of the editorial network Germany (RND). However, Biden was under enormous pressure from Republicans, who wanted to discredit him as weak on foreign policy. At the same time, Chinese President Xi Jinping has been pursuing an expansive foreign policy for years, the SPD politician explains. “That makes managing relationships increasingly difficult.”

Foreign CDU politician Norbert Röttgen expressed the expectation that the balloon dispute would affect relations between China and the US only briefly. “In my opinion, it is a Chinese failure that nevertheless required a US response,” Röttgen told RND. “However, I assume that this will not deter both parties from their planned course for longer than necessary. And that consists in not being completely speechless in the pronounced power struggle on both sides.” (sda/dpa)